High Beginner Russian – Online Class

This class will meet online from September 30th to November 4th.

Accessible to students across the United States

This High Beginner Russian class is designed for students who already have a solid foundation in the language and are ready to move beyond basic conversations. It is an ideal next step after completing a Low Beginner Russian course or several months of consistent study.

Classes meet weekly in small groups of 3–6 students, ensuring plenty of speaking time, personal attention, and meaningful interaction with both the instructor and classmates.

Because this is a fully online class, you can join from anywhere—whether you are based in Berkeley, San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles, Seattle, or anywhere else in the United States.

About the Instructor

Olga was born and educated in Belarus and has a strong academic background in languages and pedagogy. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in French and English Languages from the University of Mogilev in 2008 and a Master’s Degree in Pedagogical Sciences from Minsk Linguistic University in 2009.

She also holds ABD (All But Dissertation) status in Belarusian Language and Literature. Her dissertation, “Actual Style Traditions of Women’s Russian-Speaking Literature of Belarus (Late 20th–Early 21st Centuries),” reflects her deep engagement with Russian-language culture and literary traditions.

Olga speaks Russian, Belarusian, French, and English and has also studied Latin, giving her a broad multilingual perspective that enriches her teaching. Her classes are clear, engaging, and culturally informed.

Who This Course Is For

High Beginner Russian is the ideal next step for students who have completed a Low Beginner Russian course or have studied Russian consistently for several months and feel comfortable with the basics.

Students at this level should already be familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet, basic sentence structures, common present-tense verb conjugations, and introductory noun case patterns.

This course builds on those foundational skills, helping students expand their vocabulary, strengthen their grammar, and develop greater confidence speaking Russian in everyday situations.

What You’ll Learn

In this course, students will begin expressing themselves more naturally in a wider range of situations. You will practice longer conversations, work with more complex sentence structures, and develop a stronger understanding of essential Russian grammar.

You will learn to:

• Talk about daily life, shopping, travel, hobbies, and future plans

• Describe past experiences and everyday events

• Express opinions, preferences, and simple explanations

• Understand and respond to longer dialogues

• Use additional verb conjugations with greater confidence

• Work with Russian noun cases in a wider range of contexts

• Develop an introductory understanding of perfective and imperfective verb aspect

• Improve your pronunciation and listening comprehension

• Read and discuss short texts in Russian

Lessons include interactive speaking activities, short listening and reading exercises, grammar practice, and cultural insights that reflect real-life communication in Russian-speaking environments.

By the End of the Course

You will be better able to:

• Participate in conversations on a variety of familiar topics

• Describe experiences, routines, and plans in greater detail

• Handle a broader range of practical situations in Russian

• Express simple opinions and preferences

• Understand short spoken and written texts

• Use essential grammar structures with greater accuracy

• Continue confidently to Low Intermediate Russian

This level is ideal for students who want to move beyond basic survival Russian and begin developing the skills needed for more independent communication.

Required Textbook

Sputnik: Introductory Russian Language Course (Part 2)
by Julia Rochtchina

Website: www.sputniktextbook.org

Offered by Polyglottist Language Academy, serving students across the United States through small-group online language classes.